Window-seat café near Hongik Univ. Station: Central Site Yeonnam

After lunch with friends, I headed to Central Site Yeonnam, famous for its brewing coffee. The weather these days is cool morning and evening but blazing hot in the daytime, haha.

When it's hot, ducking into an indoor café is basically the law! Today I'm sharing my visit to Central Site Yeonnam, well known among Hongdae cafés for great coffee.

Location and hours

• 29-1 Yeonhui-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (within 10 minutes on foot from Exit 3, Hongik University Station)
• Daily 08:30–22:00
• Pet-friendly

Yeonnam-dong's shops are tucked into alleys and can be hard to find, but Hongdae café Central Site sits right on the main road, easy to spot.

Central Site uses a whole building. It's a spacious coffee shop with all kinds of seating, from the 1st-floor bar table up to the 3rd-floor rooftop. Sitting in black next to a quiet sidewalk, it's a chic, modern-feeling coffee shop.

What's the 2nd-floor window seating like?

Up on the 2nd floor there's a bar table and seats overlooking the Yeonnam-dong street. The windows swing wide open, so in spring or fall you could sip coffee with a breeze drifting in — such a nice mood.

With autumn weather like this, having coffee at Central Site was so nice. We caught up on things with the sunlight streaming through the big windows.

Menu and what we ordered

Hongdae café Central Site is known for brewing coffee, and you can pick from a range of beans while staff kindly explain each one. We ordered Colombia Campo Hermoso Caturra Honey Grape Mosto Co-Fermentation, Ethiopia Nordic Approach Yirgacheffe Chelbesa Washed, and a NON-Coffee Fig One caffeine-free tea.

As soon as we ordered, the staff started roasting right away and even let us sniff the beans ourselves. Each bean smelled different, and the aroma was so refined it actually calmed me down. Watching the staff time the brew and pour with such care was surprising all over again — this place really has that coffee-expert presence.

Watching the beans get brewed right in front of us confirmed Central Site as a trustworthy brewing coffee spot. The taste really does change depending on who roasts it and how, right? Such a delicate drink, haha. With coffee poured that carefully, there's no way it could taste bad.

Can't skip dessert! 🍰 We also ordered the classic tiramisu, the safest pick. Compared to other cafés, the moment you step inside you're hit with an overwhelming coffee aroma — they roast the beans right there beside you. That's why the whole shop smelled so pleasantly of coffee.

While we cooled off with a glass of lemon water, staff brought everything to us directly. No buzzer system — just staff bringing it over, which was so convenient, haha.

How the two hand-drip cups tasted

Campo Hermoso had a slight acidity but tasted of tropical fruit and Welch's grape, with fruity aroma spreading subtly — refreshing yet clean to drink. Yirgacheffe carried jasmine, orange, and green grape notes, with acidity that wasn't sharp, layered with sweetness and complex flavor in the mouth. The aroma lingered gently with a bittersweet, nutty finish that I loved.

Caffeine-free Fig One tea and classic tiramisu

The Fig One caffeine-free tea had a fig aroma, cool and nutty — so good, with a slight bitterness that made it even better after a meal. As for the classic tiramisu topped with raw chocolate, I ate every bit of it, dark chocolate included. True to its reputation as a tiramisu spot, the moist sponge soaked in high-quality dark espresso paired perfectly with the sweet cream. The combination went so well with the coffee — absolutely the best.

Come to Hongdae café Central Site Yeonnam, a place where you can feel the sincerity behind every cup, for a hand-drip coffee of your own.